Today will be downright unpleasant out there as a potentially record breaking cold start to the day¹ gives way to strong southerly winds as snow moves into the region. After today, though, conditions improve substantially with the record-breaking cold moving out of the area and a gradual return to seasonal weather.

The wind will be out in full force today as strong southerlies strengthen to 40 gusting 60 km/h this morning, which combined with the cold temperatures will produce wind chill values near -30 in the first half of the morning. Temperatures will slowly climb through the day, reaching -9°C this afternoon and then sticking there until rising further overnight to around the -5°C mark by Saturday morning. The winds will begin to taper off in the evening, diminishing to calm by Saturday morning.

Those strong winds are due to the tight pressure gradient between a departing high pressure system that brought the cold temperatures and an approaching low pressure system. In addition to the winds, this low will spread light snow through western Manitoba this morning then into the Red River Valley for the afternoon. Most of the snow will be done by evening, but flurries will likely persist overnight.

While snowfall amounts won’t be too high — generally around 3 to 5 cm is expected — as the snow combines with the strong winds, travel may be impacted by scattered pockets of blowing snow. Certainly not a blizzard by any stretch of the imagination, but be prepared to take some sections of highways slowly as reduced visibility may be an issue from time to time.

The weekend looks better; any remaining flurries should taper off Saturday morning as a very broad ridge of high pressure builds into the Prairies, although a few scattered flurries will be possible through the remainder of the day. Saturday should see closer-to-seasonal temperatures with highs near -2 or -3°C and northwesterly winds of 10 to 20 km/h under mostly cloudy skies, although some afternoon sunny breaks are possible.

Temperatures cool off a bit Saturday night into Sunday as the ridge of high pressure moves through Manitoba. Winnipeg should see a low near -10°C on Saturday night with variable cloudiness and light winds. Sunday will bring mixed skies and slightly cooler temperatures once again with highs near -6°C. Sunday night’s low is a bit of a tricky proposition as temperatures will likely dive in the evening, but then clouds and increasing winds will move in and bring the temperature back up to -6 or -5°C by Monday morning. At this point, it seems like the low will dip to around -11°C before climbing back up, but if it stays clear for a bit longer it could be a few degrees lower, or if it remains cloudier temperatures may not even dip much from the daytime high.

Long Range Outlook

Next week will bring seasonal temperatures back to the region with highs of 0 to +2°C expected on both Monday and Tuesday. A low pressure system moving through on Tuesday may bring some precipitation to the region, then temperatures cool down on Wednesday before returning to the freezing mark on Thursday as another low pressure system moves through bringing a chance of snow to the Red River Valley. So a bit of a mixed bag, but certainly warmer than it has been!

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently 0°C while the seasonal overnight low is -8°C.

1. This post is being written on Thursday evening; while we’re pretty proud of our forecasts, even we can’t claim to be able to forecast down to tenths of degrees! ↩

A few flurries today will mark the arrival of another shot of colder temperatures as an approaching upper-level trough keeps Arctic air entrenched over the region. Improvement is on the horizon, with near-seasonal temperatures moving back into the region on the weekend.

Today will bring cloudy skies and flurries to much of the Red River Valley as colder Arctic air slumps southwards in the wake of a cold front that moved through on Tuesday evening. The flurries will be relatively light with little accumulations, however a light northerly flow and very cool temperatures aloft will support some lake-effect snow off of Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg through the day and into the evening.

During the day, the snow from Lake Manitoba will primarily affect regions south of the lake between Oakville and Austin, including Portage la Prairie. Heading into the evening, winds shift more to the west-northwest, and while the snow will weaken with less favourable fetch, it’s likely that light snow coming off the lake will shift eastwards towards Winnipeg.

Lake Winnipeg will primarily see moderate flurries off the North Basin moving through the Narrows and adjacent areas and eastwards into Berens River for much of the next 24 hours. The South Basin will produce some lighter snow that will spread southwards off the lake, shifting southeast towards Pinawa and then eastwards towards Bisset as winds swing around in the evening.

The widespread snow will exit the province by late Wednesday afternoon with lake-effect flurries from Lake Manitoba and the south basin of Lake Winnipeg persisting into Thursday morning.

Temperatures will climb to a high near -8°C with light northwesterly winds. Winnipeg will see a continued chance of flurries on Thursday night with a low near -18°C.¹

Thursday will be a very cool day with high temperatures across the Red River Valley climbing to just-10 or -9°C. Winds will remain light with the only clouds in the region those that move off of the lakes. Skies should be clear heading into Thursday night with temperatures plummeting to a low near -20°C.² Cloud will begin to move into the region late Thursday night/early Friday morning ahead of a warm front approaching the region.

Friday will bring a weather system that will trigger a change in the large-scale weather pattern, shunting the cold air out of the region and sending Winnipeg back towards seasonal temperatures. Expect cloudy skies with light snow building into the region as the warm front moves through. Temperatures will climb to a high near -6°C, but breezy southerly winds strengthening to 40 gusting 60 km/h will make it feel much cooler as wind chill values dip to around -15. Friday night will continue cloudy with a slight chance of light snow as temperatures remain steady around -6°C. Winds will gradually taper off by Saturday morning.

Long Range Outlook

Heading into the weekend, it looks like Winnipeg will move into a variably cloudy and dry pattern, with temperatures returning towards seasonal values. Saturday and Sunday both look to bring highs in the -2 to -4°C range, then highs are expected to climb to the freezing mark for the start of next week. Overnight lows will be follow suit, climbing back into the -8 to -4°C range.

Winnipeg’s seasonal daytime high is currently +1°C while the seasonal overnight low is -7°C.

1. Further to the south in the Red River Valley, away from the lakes, temperatures could drop into the -20 to -22°C range overnight. ↩
2. Again, overnight lows could drop even colder further south of Winnipeg in the Red River Valley, into the -22 to -25°C range. ↩